Orphanstuck
by tripleArmageddons
Summary: Sollux is treated as an outcast even after being orphaned in a car accident. Thats when the new kid shows up. Humanstuck AU


He had been there as long as he could remember. Always alone. Never wanted. It figured though, he had eyes that were two different colors, one a brilliant blue, the other a dark maroon, constantly hiding behind a pair of paper 3-D glasses. He hated his lisp; it got in the way of everything and annoyed anyone he tried to talk to, so he decided to just stop in general. By his fourth year in the orphanage, he was practically mute, vocal cords slowly falling silent from disuse. Sollux hated his life, no one liked him, no one ever wanted to adopt a freak like him, everyone always avoided him, and not even the caretakers wanted to be near him. He turned reclusive, hiding in his room all the time, never wanting to come out, even to eat. After years and years of the same treatment, he tried his own methods of getting attention, and had the body to prove it. His arms were littered with scars from numerous attempted suicides, his back a mess of mottled bruises from constant beatings, and he was painfully thin from all the revoked meals in punishment for bad behavior. Then someone new showed up, the first one in months. Everyone ran downstairs to greet him, yelling and chattering in excitement, except for Sollux. He simply continued to sit in the dark, shoulders shaking slightly from one of his constant migraines, and wishing the others would quiet down a little. To his surprise, they did, and they didn't just get quieter, they completely stopped talking.

Sollux wondered what the newcomer would think after being forced to share a room with the freak show of the building. He had the only open room now, no one even wanted to see him, much less share a room. He heard two pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs to his room. They were both dead silent, but he could hear the other kids laughing and talking loudly up the stairs toward the two. The door was shoved open rather roughly, revealing a short boy, a bit older than Sollux, standing in front of a scowling nurse, who pushed the boy inside.

"Try not to kill each other boys." she muttered as she shut the door and left.

"Why's it so dark in here?" the other boy felt around the wall for the light switch, and was rewarded, flicking on the light and quickly illuminating the dark room. Sollux flinched at the light and squeezed his eyes shut.

~Would you mind turning that back off? I kind of have a headache.~

"Oh! Um, sure I guess." He turned off the light and fumbled over to his mattress, which was right beside Sollux's. Sollux nodded slightly in thanks, and raised his hands back up to his temples. "I'm Karkat by the way."

~I'm Sollux.~

"That's a funny name." he said, somehow no caring that the other was signing instead of talking. "…do you need help or something?" Sollux shook his head slightly and leaned against the wall next to his mattress. None the less, Karkat stood up and moved over to Sollux's mattress, sitting next to him.

~What do you think you're d- ~ he started, irritation beginning set in, but he was cut off, being pulled off the wall and leaned back against the other boy's chest. He flinched, not having actual physical contact with another person in so long. Sollux's hands were pried away from his head, replaced by Karkat's; who began to rub slow circles in the other's temples. They stayed like that for some time, Sollux slowly beginning to relax against Karkat, and Karkat continuing to rub Sollux's head.

"Feel any better?" Karkat asked.

~Yeah, thanks. Where did you learn to do that?~

He looked at Sollux curiously for a second. "My mom used to get migraines all the time. I would do this to help."

~…thanks again.~ he 'said' as he stood up. ~Do you want me to turn the lights on for you?~

"If you want," Karkat stood up as well, feeling his way over to his bed, where he left his backpack. "I can kind of see now" Sollux walked over to the light switch and flipped it, squinting a bit in the bright light. Karkat looked around the practically empty room, his eyes stopping on Sollux, who was also looking around.

~Not much to see is there.~

"No there's not." said Karkat, looking Sollux over, at first not realizing that he was talking about the room, then quickly averted his eyes. Sollux walked back over to his bed, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer until he asked. "You're awfully skinny. How old are you?" Well that was different than you expected.

~Fifteen.~ He wrote, looking back up at Karkat. ~What about you?~

"Seventeen. Do they even bother to feed you? I heard you just stay up here all day"

~Sometimes, most of the time they just ignore me and I wait until later.~

"Oh. Do you always have those glasses on?"

~…yeah, everyone here makes fun of me if I don't.~ Sollux looked up at him, now noticing his eyes. They were both a deep red, nearly identical in color to his red eye. What really surprised him was that Karkat didn't try to hide them, they were out for everyone to see.

"Can I see them?"

~Um… maybe later… I'm not really comfortable showing anyone…~

"Oh, ok." It pained Sollux to see Karkat look upset, but he didn't really trust him _that much_ just yet. The others seeing them had just been an accident when he was little. The bell in the front yard tolled, signaling six o'clock.

~Time for dinner.~ Wrote Sollux. ~You should get going before they run out.~

"You mean we right?" he asked, looking confused.

~No, I mean you, I'm not going.~

"Of course you are." He said. "You're too skinny to miss another meal." Karkat grabbed Sollux's hand and pulled him up off the bed. Sollux gave him a pained look, but followed anyway, not wanting to seem like any more of an ass than he thought he already had. They managed to make it down to the cafeteria without an incident, but it was a different story as soon as they stepped inside. Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to stare at them. Karkat strode right up to the line, Sollux trailing behind him, wishing he could just disappear.

"Look who decided to show up!" Someone yelled, and a few people laughed.

"Why don't you go back to your room and hide some more, freak!" More laughing. Sollux felt tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, and quickly swiped them away. In front of him, Karkat was practically shaking with anger. When they both got served, they headed over to the only empty table in the room. Then one of the other kids walked up to them. Sollux knew his name was Eridan something; he seemed like a pretty decent kid, he never really joined in on the teasing. He almost looked sorry as his eyes flickered over Karkat's face, but in vanished in the split second it took for him to reach the two and knock his tray out of his hands. Karkat just stared at him, obviously struggling to hold in his pent up rage. Eridan ran back to his table, the rest of the cafeteria laughing at the two other boys, the monitors choosing to look the other way once again. Sollux nudged Karkat back toward the table, implying that he should just ignore them. Karkat sighed, but obliged and sat down across from Sollux, who pushed his tray over to him.

Karkat alternated between staring at the tray no in front of him, and the boy sitting across from it.

~I'm not hungry anyway~ Sollux wrote, motioning for Karkat to eat his portion.

"You have to eat too you know. You're too damn skinny for your own good."

~I don't want it~

Karkat sighed again. "How about we share it then, I get you to eat something for what looks like the first time in your life, and I eat some of your food."

~fine~

So they shared it, Sollux making Karkat eat his half first, then Sollux eating his, both eating quickly so they could leave as soon as they could. They practically ran up the stairs, both of them collapsing on their beds.

"Is this how it always is?"

Sollux just nodded. Karkat was silent, and stayed that way for a while, his hand resting on his ratty backpack at his side.

"Do you like reading Sollux?" he asked, finally talking after what seemed like forever.

~of course I do~

Karkat smiled lightly and sat up. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a few books, which appeared to make up the majority of the contents.

"I just have a couple, and they're really old, but they were my favorites when I was little." He said.

Two hours and one gigantic book later, the both of them were practically falling asleep on each other. They had consented to sitting side by side on Karkat's bed with the book of choice, turning out to be _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, _between them. The both of them stood up, Karkat reaching down to grab his pajamas from his backpack, Sollux digging around under his blanket for his. Sollux pulled off his shirt without a thought, completely forgetting about his scars.

"What happened?" asked Karkat. Sollux froze and spun around, clutching his shirt over his chest.

~what do you mean?~

"You know exactly what I mean, you're is covered in scars." He reached out to grab Sollux's shoulders, but he backed up and pressed against the wall, so far succeeding to hide the rest of himself.

~it's nothing~

"Sollux, that's not 'nothing', where did you get those?" Karkat was starting to look worried, panicked, and enraged, all at the same time.

~it happened a while ago okay. It's nothing you should worry about~

Karat reached out and took hold of one of Sollux's arms, holding him by the wrist. "_Those_ didn't happen a while ago. Who did this to you?" he was talking about the dozens of scars, ranging from pale pink to dark red, running up Sollux's arm.

Sollux just stared at the ground. ~why do you even care anyway?~

"Because if I'm gonna share a room with you I should at least get to know you."

~I did it to myself~ He could feel the tears running down his cheeks as he wrote it. He never regretted trying, but he had always hated making other people worry about him, or noticing him in general. That's why he had always put up with the other kids instead of fighting back. Sollux expected Karkat to be angry with him, as the nurses had been every time he had to go to the clinic, but the other boy hugged him. He was startled when he felt tears drip onto the top of his head; no one had ever cried for him before. No one had ever cared about him near this much before.

Sollux gently pushed Karkat away, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the contact and attention. ~you should go two bed. Curfew's soon~

". . . okay. See you in the morning then I guess."

~goodnight~ Sollux finished putting his pajamas on after Karkat turned off the light.


End file.
